LCQ7: Enhanced efforts to reduce vessel emissions

Following is a question by the Hon James To and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (December 14):

Question:

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a) given that the Government has earlier indicated that the pilot scheme for promoting the use of cleaner fuels for local ferries has been completed, of the expected time when it will submit the outcome of the pilot scheme to this Council and for public consultation; moreover, given that the Government has indicated that it has completed the consultation on regulating emissions from non-road mobile machinery which is widely used in places such as container terminals, etc. and it plans to commence the work of enacting legislation in 2012, when the related legislative procedures are expected to complete; of the anticipated improvement in air quality of various districts across the territory upon implementation of the aforesaid scheme/plan;

(b) given that the Chief Executive has proposed in his Policy Address of this year that the Government will explore with the Governments of Guangdong, Shenzhen and Macao proposals for requiring ocean-going vessels in Pearl River Delta (“PRD”) waters to switch to low-sulphur diesel, and setting up an Emission Control Area in PRD waters, whether it knows how the existing regulatory controls over vessel fuels and their emission levels of Hong Kong, Macao and the Mainland compare with one another; whether liaison and meetings with the Mainland and Macao on the relevant subject matter have commenced; in addition, of the expected time when such proposal can be implemented;

(c) given that in response to my question in 2007, the Government indicated that “there is yet to be an internationally-recognised standard for shore power supply and facilities on board for the shipping industry”, thus the proposal of providing shore power supply in public cargo working area or other berthing facilities was considered not practicable for the time being, whereas as far as I understand, there are already more than 15 ports around the world which provide shore power, among which the Port of Shanghai has provided shore power service since last year, and relevant planning has been underway in a number of ports in Taiwan, whether the Government has, in the light of the latest development in various places, started afresh any study in this regard, or liaised with mainland, Taiwan or even international organizations of the trade to understand the relevant technological development as well as to discuss with them the formulation of trade standards; if it has, of the progress;

(d) given that provisions have been made in the design of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal for the use of shore power in future, whether the Government will consider making additional provisions of the same kind at the Kwai Chung Container Terminals, or initiating pilot schemes on the supply of shore power at various cargo working areas;

(e) since the implementation of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) Regulation (Cap. 413M) (“the Regulation”) in 2008, whether there has been an increasing trend of merchant ships violating the Regulation; and up till now, of the number of spot checks conducted by the Marine Department each month, and the number of cases in which the owners concerned were convicted for excessive smoke emissions by their vessels, as well as the fines imposed; and

(f) apart from the measures in (a) to (e), whether the Government has other plans to regulate the emission of pollutants by vessels and container terminal facilities; whether the Government will make reference to the “Green Port” policy introduced by the Mainland and neighbouring regions one after the other to reduce emissions and pollution, and initiate related studies and plans?

Reply:

President,

With successive implementation of land-based control measures, we have seen improvement in the local air pollution. For example, from 2005 to 2010, our local air quality monitoring stations recorded a decrease in the concentrations of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and respirable suspended particulate (RSP) by 45% and 18% respectively. Due to the increase in the maritime activities in Hong Kong and the PRD Region, emissions from the marine vessels have gradually become another source of air pollution. We need to step up our effort to reduce emissions from this source in order to further improve our air quality. The reply to the questions raised by the Hon James To is as follows:

(a) At present, the light diesel supplied on the local market to marine vessels contains not more than 0.5% sulphur. If the sulphur content is capped at 0.1%, the territory-wide emissions of SO2 and RSP will be reduced by around 3%. We have thus completed a trial of powering local ferries with ultra low sulphurdiesel and will report on the trial findings and consult the Panel about improving the quality of vessel fuels sold locally at the meeting of the Legislative Council Panel on Environmental Affairs (the Panel) on December 21.Meanwhile, we have started seeking relevant stakeholders’ views on this proposal.

As for the introduction of statutory control on the emissions of non-road mobile sources (including mobile machinery used at container terminals, airport, construction sites, etc.), we have consulted the trades on our proposal. We plan to report to the Panel on the outcome of the consultation and consult it on the final proposal in the first quarter of 2012. Subject to the Panel’s support, we shall commence the necessary legislative procedures for implementing the control proposal which is expected to complete within the 2012-13 legislative session.

Emissions from non-road mobile machinery currently account for about 7% (6,800tonnes) and 11% (600 tonnes) of the local emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and RSP respectively. If all non-road mobile machinery in local use are replaced with ones meeting the proposed emission standards, local emissions of NOx and RSP can be reduced by 4.7% (4,500 tonnes) and 9% (500 tonnes) respectively. It will also help mitigate the environmental nuisance generated at container terminals and construction sites near the urban centres.

(b) Hong Kong, Macao and the Mainland control marine emissions within their waters through implementing the requirements of the Annex VI to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships promulgated by the International Maritime Organisation. These include restriction of fuelsulphur contents, control of emission of NOx and ozone-depleting substances, and regulation of shipboard incineration.

We have started discussion with the relevant authorities of Guangdong, Shenzhen and Macao on the regional cooperation initiatives on reducing marine emissions within the PRD waters set out in the 2011 Policy Address. We will jointly explore the feasibility of these initiatives and the way to take them forward.Meanwhile, we are also consulting the local stakeholders, including the oil companies, ship owners and the shipping industry about the proposed control initiatives, which would help us consider and work out the implementation timetable as soon as possible.

(c) and (d) The design of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal has already made provisions for the use of onshore power supply (OPS) in future. We will keep closely monitoring the progress in the development of internationally harmonized technical standards for OPS and the trend of other overseas ports in using OPS, with a view to installing relevant facilities in the cruise terminal as soon as possible.

As for container terminals, since container vessels have a shorter berthing time, switching to low-sulphur diesel is more cost-effective than using OPS. We will continue to listen to the views of the industry and closely monitor the trend of overseas container terminals in using OPS to decide whether there is a need to require container terminals to install relevant facilities.

(e) The Marine Department has not found any increasing trend of non-compliance cases of vessels since implementation of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) Regulation in 2008. Dark smoke emission from ocean-going vessels is regulated under the Shipping and Port Control Ordinance, whereas that from local vessels is regulated under the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) Ordinance. As at November 2011, the Marine Department has carried out around 3 600 surprise inspections (on average 330 inspections per month) on vessels in Hong Kong waters in relation to air pollution. Since 2008, the Marine Department has prosecuted five vessels for excessive emission of dark smoke causing nuisance. All of these vessels were convicted and the level of fine for each case ranged from HK$500 to HK$2,500.

(f) The Chief Executive proposed the use of clean fuels for marine vessels in this year’s Policy Address. The proposed measures include:

(i) explore with the governments of Guangdong, Shenzhen and Macao the feasibility of requiring ocean-going vessels to switch to low-sulphur fuel while berthing at ports of Hong Kong and the PRD;

(ii) explore with the governments of Guangdong, Shenzhen and Macao setting up an Emission Control Area in PRD waters over the longer term; and

(iii) study in collaboration with the relevant trades the feasibility of improving the quality of vessel fuels sold locally to reduce emissions from vessels.

We are actively following up the above proposed measures in order to reduce vessel emissions.

On the other hand, many major ship liners in Hong Kong signed up to the Fair Winds Charter (the Charter) in January this year, committing to switching to lowsulphur fuel as far as possible when berthing in Hong Kong waters within 2011 and 2012. The Charter has not only reduced the emissions generated from the marine vessels around the port area, but also demonstrated the feasibility of fuel switch in Hong Kong waters, which would help us explore extending fuel switch to the whole PRD waters.

Regarding other measures to reduce emissions from container terminals, it is now a statutory requirement that the sulphur content of diesel used by non-road mobile sources (including mobile machinery and non-road vehicles) at container terminals must not exceed 50ppm (i.e. ultra low sulphur diesel). Emission reduction is also attained by switching most quay cranes to electric power, and converting more than half of the diesel-driven gantry cranes into electric or hybrid cranes. In addition, some non-road vehicles used at container terminals have been replaced by electric or hybrid models to help improve the air quality and environment of the port.